‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ Explores Natural Hair Care and Textures

Licensed by Creative Commons The "Don't Touch My Hair" lecture taught students how to take care of their naturally curly hair.

Angela Pender

Staff Writer

The finer ladies of Zeta Phi Beta presented a lecture called “Don’t Touch My Hair” Feb. 1 in Beers Lecture Hall. They discussed what having “natural” hair means and the types of products to use to maintain healthy hair with tight curl patterns or locks.

Cassandra Bediako, the presenter of the lecture, described the definition of natural hair.

“Hair whose texture hasn’t been altered by chemical straighteners, including relaxers and texturizers,” said Bediako.

The discussion continued on, talking about the difference in textures of hair, how to take care of softer or thicker hair and described the different types of curl patterns.

She explained how straight hair shows no type of curl pattern, wavy hair is between straight and curly or it’s a loose form of curl and wavy hair is typically more prone to frizz. Curly hair forms a spiral shape and is generally the tighter curls forming the letter “S” or “Z” whereas kinky hair is wiry and usually has a zig-zag pattern.

Kinky hair is also the driest hair texture and more prone to breakage. As you can see, there are a lot of different varieties of curl patterns, but there are also many products to help you keep up with hair care. The ladies mentioned how Shea Moisture, Cantu, Carol’s Daughter, As I Am, Eco Styler, and Curls Unleashed are all excellent products to use when going natural because they help with damaged hair and adds nutrients to your hair while still giving you the best curls for your end results.

She also suggests using a silk pillow at night to avoid hair breakage and using a cotton towel or shirt instead of a regular towel could be beneficial because regular terry cloth towels absorb too much moisture which curly hair needs.

They also explained how the more you spend on your hair products, the better the results and you will have growing, healthy, curly, hair in no time. The types of styles that most hair naturalists use to obtain curly hair are twists, the flat twist which gives more volume, braid outs, the big chop which is the process of cutting off all the damaged hair, and protective hairstyles such as wearing weave extensions, braids, and crochet.

She even gave men hair tips on how to grow out their beards by using Shea Moisture Men and washing it regularly. She tells men who want to obtain a healthy beard, be patient, know when to trim it, buy great beard oils, and don’t forget the mustache. This was a great event to learn all about hair care and the steps you need to take to maintain a healthy full set of natural hair and a healthy beard.

Email Angela at:

apender1@live.esu.edu